祝！　西本篤史さん　論文出版

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　瀬戸実験所alumnusの西本篤志史さん（現在　国立研究開発法人 水産総合研究センター

中央水産研究所　海洋・生態系研究センター）が論文を出版されました。おめでとうございます。

　本研究は、ベントス群集の中でも特殊な群集であるところの、陸上の材木が海洋に流出して沈んだ時に、そこに出現するその環境固有の生物群種である「沈木群集」の遷移について、主に貝類と甲殻類に着目して調べたものです。

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　An experimental approach for understanding the process of wood fragmentation by marine wood borers in shallow temperate waters.

by

Atsushi Nishimoto, Takuma Haga, Akira Asakura, Yoshihisa Shirayama

ABSTRACT: Wood-boring activities by various invertebrates control the availability of food and space in marine sunken wood communities. We investigated the individual stages of wood fragmentation through a 4 yr colonization experiment. We placed Japanese cedar logs on the sea bed ~2 m below the surface of Tanabe Bay, Japan. A cluster analysis showed 6 successive stages (plus 1 alternative second stage) in the development of the wood borer’s assemblage. Individuals of the bivalve families Teredinidae and Pholadidae and the isopod family Limnoriidae settled on the logs within 2 mo (Stage 1). After rapidly fragmenting the inside of the logs (Stage 2), most of the teredinids died during the first year, leaving numerous empty tunnels reinforced by calcium carbonate linings (Stage 3). Because of this reinforcement, as well as due to the fact that the tunnels never crossed each other, the resulting honeycombed structure remained stable for about 3 yr, allowing for the ongoing development of the sunken wood community. Large-scale fragmentation finally continued with the limnoriids intensively disintegrating the logs from the surface (Stage 4). As the fragmentation process drew to a close, the pholadids disappeared from the assemblage before the limnoriids (Stage 5), the latter persisting until the log had been turned entirely into small particles (Stage 6). This rapid and dynamic fragmentation process is not universal in the sea, but serves as a useful framework for comparing the wood-boring activities across various conditions. Those comparisons will help to evaluate the role of coarse woody debris in marine ecosystems.

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